


We will be Heroes

by Steamed_Tets



Category: The Property of Hate
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26874721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steamed_Tets/pseuds/Steamed_Tets
Summary: Not to everyone, but to someone.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	We will be Heroes

_ “Would you like to be a Hero?” _

Those cursed words. The simple cause of such pain across many, and he’d always been the one to speak them. How awful. None of them had deserved the things that had happened to them. Not even those who hated him now and wanted him gone. In fact, he would go so far as to say they were justified in desiring his removal from this world. Or any world for that matter. But she would say that wasn’t true. Or at the very least she, and others like her, would all but defend his heinous acts, the horrible deeds he’d done, even to them. It was saddening really. Perhaps they were delusional, a side effect from staying in a world they didn’t belong in just a tad too long. Or maybe it was something else? He could never say for certain. 

She would claim that Heroes are meant to save monsters, not to destroy or hurt them, which in his own personal opinion, was the exact opposite of what he had thought heroes were supposed to do. Maybe he really didn’t keep up with the times as well as he thought he did. Madras had been right about that after all he supposed. Wouldn’t be the first time, though he’d never admit that. What a fool he had been, and what a fool he still was. Everything was for naught now. She was gone. She had said that she was still cross but that she didn’t hate him, and at the time he hadn’t understood. But now he did because now he knew he’d broken the trust that she had put in him to do the right thing. And boy did it ever feel dirty. Disgusting. Horrific to say the least. She could be anywhere by now, provided she even made it to where she wanted to go. He hated this feeling. Hated knowing that everything he'd tried to do, no matter how horrible, was to save this world and all the ones connected to it, and he'd just lost his best chance at finally freeing them from destruction. 

That's what he told himself anyway.

The suns finally began to rise over the horizon, bringing light to the world below them. Provided he had eyes, he would have squinted at the power of the light. With a gentle sigh he rose to his feet, he needed to weigh his options, figure out something to do. He needed to find her, if that was possible. Or he could give up and find another Hero. Though he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to do the latter just yet, so he'd have to start looking and hope the former Heroes hadn't found her quite yet. So he started walking. With any luck, she stopped not far away and he wasn’t that far behind her. 

Within an hour he had managed to catch up to her, but so had Julienne, Melody, and Gladys. He frowned as he approached, hoping that the blue ink that was dripping wasn’t incredibly obvious. Before he could even get close, Gladys stepped between him and Hero, practically shielding her from view. 

“I just want to talk, that’s all. She doesn't have to come with me ever again if she doesn’t want to.” He started, putting his hands up in defense. 

“We’re certain. She’s already told us what you’ve done. Do you really think your words can get through to anyone now after everything your actions have done?” Julienne hissed from atop her wife. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever truly had an influence over anything that has happened, good or bad. Events happen and although I rightfully take blame for many things, my influence is small at best.” He tried to keep his voice steady, he knew any one of them, save his Hero, could obliterate him from this world if they desperately, truly wanted to. 

“RGB she’s six! Six! She is most certainly not to blame for her circumstances in this world thus far. You, who have taken the supposed role of her guardian, have done very little to protect her from the dangers that plague this world! Ourselves included! Just like you have failed to do with every hero thus far, three of which stand before you as proof of that! And you want to justify your failures by claiming that the things that happen are ultimately not your own doing, but those of others?” 

He remained silent throughout her shouting, her words hurtling at him like the sharp knives that made up parts of her body. They cut him down to the wire and how he wished she had actually chopped him to pieces instead of showing him the mere ounce of mercy he’d gotten so far, most likely because Hero was still present and she didn’t want to traumatize the child any further. 

"That's not what I meant, I-"

"Then what did you mean?" She asked, cutting him off, "Are you instead claiming that, rather than her, it is all the past heroes' own faults for ending up the way we are now? Changed forever and unable to go home? That she gets a mere pass because she is a child? That you, the one meant to guide the hero, have failed time and time again to complete your task?"

Again he remained silent until she was finished, "That's not what I'm saying either, you know that very well. I had been saying that I take no responsibility for Fears or Griefs that show up. I have no control, no influence over them or what they do. I do however take responsibility and blame for everything that has happened to any of you upon your arrival in this world. You are correct, I am the guide and have repeatedly failed at my duty. And I can accept the fact that a majority, or perhaps all of you at this point, would rather never see me again."

He paused for a moment, yellow and blue ink dripped down his face even if he couldn't see it. Scared out of his wire-filled mind. Not necessarily scared of the truth he'd say, more accurate to claim that he was more terrified of the results of said truth. Hero carefully peeked from behind Gladys to look at him, her eyes were red as though she'd spent quite a great deal of the previous night crying rather than sleeping. Not that he could blame her of course. The sight broke his heart. He'd seen her cry, multiple times in fact, and this had not been the first instance where  _ he _ was the reason she was crying. But it hurt. More than he'd ever want to admit. 

But he had to continue. He took a deep breath, "You know as well as I do that she is still the designated Hero. Her time is now." He looked at the ground, removing the boater hat from his head, "If she truly, no longer trusts me, and you do not see fit to leave her with me I cannot blame you. If I am no longer fit to be her guide, I ask that you will guide her so that this world might be saved. Or at the very least, as long as she's happy, wherever she goes."

All eyes, well metaphorical eyes, were on him as he waited in silence. When no reply he slowly put his hat back on his head and turned around. The pain in his chest was heavy, and after everything he'd been through, he'd go so far as to say it was simply unbearable. But he couldn't turn around, forced himself to not even look back at the group. That luxury was no longer allowed to him. He knew this would most likely be the outcome, but no amount of time could have prepared him for his heart to shatter all over again. He hadn't even finished picking up the pieces from last time and here he was, having to start all over again from scratch. Just like he had last time. It hurt to walk, hurt to move, hurt to not turn around and give one last look. 

That's when he felt the extra weight being pulled on his coat. 

He turned, not fully, but just enough to see what was happening. Hero, the current one he should clarify, was grasping tightly to the back of his coat, stopping him in his tracks. Her head hung low, but her hands gripped the fabric even tighter. She muttered something under her breath, something he couldn’t quite hear. 

“What was that? Speak up, my dear.” 

She looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes which only served to shatter his heart all over again, “I said you don’t have to go!” 

This surprised nearly everyone there, himself most of all. He was certain that she hated him, that she would force him away as soon as she saw him. He looked up at the remaining heroes in shock, unsure if what he wanted to do next would be worth the beating he might get out of it. 

But hey, as long as he was getting out of his comfort zone and breaking every single one of his rules while he was at it, he might as well make it worth his while. He turned to face her, lowering himself to be down on one knee and carefully wrapped his arms around her in a hug. That was when the sobbing started, originating from the small girl in his arms. She clung to him, pulling at the back part of his coat desperately, and he couldn’t understand why. 

After everything he’d done,  _ why was she being so nice to him? _

They stayed there for a long while. So long in fact that he had forgotten exactly how much time had passed during the moment. All that mattered to him right now was comforting her, helping her feel better. He gently rubbed her back, keeping her close as her sobs slowly turned to quiet sniffles. “Alright there we go,” He started, patting her head gently as she pulled away, “Did you get it all out of your system?” He asked, handing her a handkerchief from inside his sleeve. 

She nodded slowly, rubbing at her eyes fiercely. 

He gave her a minute to finish and look up at him, and once she had that’s when he asked, “Why do you want me to stay?” 

When again she mumbled too quiet for anyone to hear, he asked her to speak up, “Because even if you’re a monster, the worst monster of them all, and you do that thing, y’know, you’re still a hero. You saved me in the desert, do you remember?” 

He did, and he nodded to show so, waiting to see where she would go with this.

“You still saved me, and you helped me with the lies, and you let me go into the tears to save them, and you still protected me, even if you didn’t do a very good job.” She said, looking down at herself. “Monsters aren’t all bad. Monsters can be heroes too. We can all be heroes, maybe not to this world, but to somebody. And you’ve been a Hero to me.”

The words ricocheted off the walls of his mind like glass as he attempted to process what she’d said.  _ You’ve been a Hero to me. _ She had been talking to him when she’d said it, but how could that be? His attempt at processing it was ground to a halt once he realized that she was hugging him again. But he couldn’t figure out what he’d done to deserve the mercy, to deserve yet another chance, not only with her but with this seemingly impossible task to save this world. 

“We will all be heroes to somebody. Maybe not to everyone and certainly not the entire world, but to someone.” 

He couldn’t quite figure out why yet, but he couldn’t agree with her more.

**Author's Note:**

> Music really is like my primary source of inspiration HUH?! I so badly wanted to make the summary "we can change the world if we try" but it didn't quite fit with the story lmao. The payoff in this isn't quite what i wanted it to be, but i still think its pretty good


End file.
